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The
Coalition for Integrity and Accountability-AMAN completed an intensive
training course on the means and tools of financial and sectoral
analysis of the General Budget and the mechanisms of oversight and
accountability as well as lobbying tools and strategies. The course
targeted civil society representatives including AMAN’s employees and
aimed at encouraging the existence of more open and credible budgets
which can be fulfilled through building the capacities of the civil
society to review and analyze the General Budget and monitor the
implementation and the final statement of account. It also aimed at
driving active participation of civil society in preparing the budget.
The
three-day training covered topics within four vital sectors; health,
education, agriculture and local governance, and was delivered by Nader
Tadros, an Egyptian expert in the field of advocacy and a representative
of People’s Advocacy- an American organization.
NGOs have a crucial role in influencing public policies, legislations as
well as the quality of governance; therefore, the training addressed
aspects to empower these organizations to take part in preparing the
PNA’s General Budget in a way to comply with the needs and actual
priorities of the various sectors. Further, it addressed their role in
monitoring the implementation of the General Budget as well as holding
the government accountable on decisions of relevance and expenditure.
During the training, participants reviewed, discussed and analyzed the
PNA Budgets of past years along with a focus on the international budget
transparency index and the indexes and standards listed within.
The
training addressed skills like analyzing winning and losing budgets and
identifying the growth and loss in each sector while working on an
analytical comparison based on the national sectoral needs and
priorities.
Additionally, participants practiced lobbying strategies and were
introduced to various players in this field for the purpose of
influencing general budgets to adopt national priorities based on
principles of just distribution of resources and gender equality.
All
participants agreed on the necessity of forming a national team that is
specialized in reviewing and analyzing the General Budget where it shall
have the experience and skills to conduct such work once the general
budget is announced and all related documents are fully released.
Following, a Position Paper is to be issued in this regard and modified
before passing it to the PLC for ratification.
The
team is also seeking to form an accountability commission for the
Minster of Finance in an annual hearing organized by AMAN on the General
Budget before it is approved by competent parties.
Moreover, participants agreed that the Palestinian government shall
issue a “citizen budget” which is an uncomplicated version of the Budget
that is accessible and easier to breakdown and understand. This budget
is to be designed to reach out to the biggest possible number of
Palestinian citizens |
